Theologians: The Unheard Mediator

He was a Dutch Catholic who wanted to be "rid of the Roman See and its satellites"; yet in his old age, he was considered for a cardinal's red hat. He believed that priests and monks should be allowed to marry. He argued for liberalized divorce, defended the use of the vernacular in the Mass, and questioned the infallibility of the Pope. He would, in short, be much at home among church reformers today. This month, in Rotterdam, the Dutch began a summer-long celebration marking the 500th anniversary of his birth.

With good reason: Erasmus* has survived those centuries well. As a humanist of international eminence and a lifelong apostle of Christian renewal, he put a special mark both on the Renaissance and on the Reformation that followed it. More important, many of his ideas about reform and the Christian life seem remarkably relevant today, and the best scholarship on Erasmus has been the work of 20th century historians. The most recent example is Erasmus of Christendom (Scribners, $6.95), an affectionate appreciation by Yale Reformation Historian Roland H. Bainton, best known for his biography of Martin Luther, Here I Stand. In Bainton's view, the current revolution in the church makes the Erasmian message even more pertinent—and perhaps more poignant—than ever before.

The illegitimate son of a Dutch priest, Erasmus was sent as a young boy to study with the Brethren of the Common Life in the town of Deventer. The Brethren were an anomaly in the 15th century church: laymen who lived like monks, they took no permanent vows but observed a strict discipline and worked zealously among the poor. Erasmus was greatly attracted by their spirituality, even though he eventually joined a more conventional religious order, the Augustinian Canons.

Although Erasmus remained a priest all his life, his interest in the Augustinians did not last long. Discipline interfered with his dedication to scholarship, and he eventually was dispensed from monastic rules. His central concern, apart from classical learning, was the true meaning of the Christian life. A follower of Christ, Erasmus thought, ought to be a spiritual soldier—a theme he explored in one of his first popular books, a volume that he dedicated hopefully to a sybaritic armaments manufacturer. His Enchiridion Militis Christian! (The Handbook, or "Dagger," of the Christian Soldier) failed to convert the man to a more virtuous life, but it did become a stimulus to Christian liberal reform throughout Europe. It assured the layman that he could be as much a true Christian as any priest—a revolutionary thought for the times. "Monasticism is not a way of piety," Erasmus said. "It is a way of living."

A monk without a monastery, Erasmus was free to travel. On visits to England, he found close friends in Sir Thomas More, John Colet and other noted English humanists. In Italy, he learned Greek, published an extensive anthology of ancient Adages, and was appalled at the wars of Pope Julius II against neighboring Christian states. In Bologna, he witnessed Julius' triumphal entry with "a mighty groan," wondering whether the Pope was the successor of Jesus Christ or Julius Caesar.